


Chasing These Pretty, Pretty Things

by buoyantsaturn



Series: I'm in Hell [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, babysitter!Nico, parent!Will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 10:01:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9229775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: Welcome to the supplementary ficlets relating to the I'm in Hell au! These probably don't need to be read alongside the actual story, but it might help??? idk





	1. Halloween

**Author's Note:**

> This first one goes somewhere near chapter 5 of I'm in Hell, probably. Enjoy!

Will couldn’t believe that, three years in a row, he wouldn’t be taking Bianca trick-or-treating. He couldn’t even go to the costume parade at her school, but he’d convinced Nico to go and take pictures for him, and Nico had even agreed to take her around the neighborhood that night, so she didn’t miss out on the fun. 

Will had already gotten Bianca dressed in her fairy princess costume by the time Nico arrived at the Solace home. Nico was the only one not wearing a costume (Will still had to wear his scrubs to work, but he had a cat-ear headband and whiskers painted on his cheeks), though the t-shirt he was wearing under his leather jacket had dancing skeletons on the front.

Bianca, however, didn’t seem to think that it was enough Halloween spirit. She marched right up to him when Nico entered the room, arms crossed, and looked him up and down. “Where’s your costume?” she demanded.

“This is my costume,” Nico told her. “I’m a college student.”

“That’s not a costume!” 

“Yeah,” Will jumped in, “college students can’t afford leather jackets.”

Nico grinned at him. _"Rich_  college student.”

“Changing an adjective doesn't change the fact that you don't have a costume,” Will said, rolling his eyes.

Bianca ran over to a box of unused Halloween decorations in the corner. She dug through it for a moment before pulling something out and holding it behind her back to hide it from Nico. When he went back over to him, she order him to close his eyes. When he did, Bianca held out a red devil-horn headband.

“This can be your costume,” Bianca told him when Nico took the headband from her hands.

“How fitting,” Will said with a grin, and Nico rolled his eyes, though there was a bit of a smile on his face, as well. 

“Ha, ha,” Nico said, sliding the headband into his hair, tugging the dark strands away from his face in doing so. Will fell suddenly silent, glancing away quickly.

“Uh, anyway, I have to get to work,” Will said before turning to Bianca and dropping down to one knee. “Have fun at school, Bi, I wish I could go with you.”

Bianca surged forward to hug her father. “It’s okay, Daddy, Nico will take lots of pictures for you!”

“That’s right, Princess,” Nico told her, and Bianca pulled away from Will. “But we’ve gotta get going if you don’t want to be late.”

“Fairy Princess,” Bianca corrected him.

“Of course,  _ Fairy _ Princess,” Nico amended.

  


Will knew that Halloween was always a busy time at the hospital - idiot fathers that thought that carving a pumpkin with a chainsaw was a  _ good _ idea, children who ate too much candy with moms that think it’s appendicitis - and Will couldn’t have been happier to get to return home at the end of the day (though it still wasn’t soon enough to catch Nico and Bianca before they left the house that night).

He stopped at the store on the way home to buy a small bag of candy, then drove very cautiously through the neighborhood. He was able to hand out a few handfuls of candy to some of the neighborhood kids, and got to surprise Bianca when she returned with a pillowcase full of candy.

As soon as Bianca was inside the door, Will scooped her up and swung her in a circle. “Hi, Bi!”

“Daddy, Nico and I got lots of candy!” Bianca told him as she was gently lowered to her feet. 

Will took the pillowcase out of her hands, dramatically over exaggerating how difficult it was to lift. “You’re right, this is a ton!”

Bianca made grabby-hands toward the bag. “I wanna eat some. Please, Daddy?”

“You know the rule, Bianca,” Will said, holding the bag out of her reach. “You’ve got school in the morning, which means you have to go to bed as soon as you brush your teeth and put on your pajamas.”

Bianca pouted. “Okay.” She spun around, wrapping Nico in a surprise hug. “Goodnight, Nico.”

Nico, slightly startled, hugged her back after a split second. “Night, Princess.” Bianca removed herself from the hug, darting past Will and heading to her room.

“Goodnight, Bianca,” Will called after her with a huff. He noticed Nico fidget out of the corner of his eye and seemed to suddenly remember that he was there. “You have pictures to show me!”

Nico nodded, reaching for his phone, but Will gestured for him to follow him into the living room. Will flicked on a lamp in the corner before dropping down onto the floor, dumping Bianca’s candy out in front of him. 

Nico cracked a smile. “You’re going to eat all of her candy before she can get to it?” he asked, still standing with his arms crossed. 

“I have to sort through it all to make sure she doesn’t accidentally eat something she’s allergic to,” Will told him. He patted the space on the ground next to him. “Come, sit, show me those pictures.”

Nico rolled his eyes, moving to sit next to Will with his back resting against the couch, and slipped his phone out of his pocket. He opened up his camera roll and leaned closer to Will, scrolling through the pictures.

There were multiple of Bianca and her friends in their costumes, and a few of some other random kids in theirs. One of the pictures that Nico lingered on for a moment was during the costume parade of a kindergarten-age girl with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes, that was wearing all black with cat ears and painted-on whiskers. 

“You probably just wanted pictures of Bianca and her friends, right?” Nico asked quietly, quickly scrolling around, looking for more pictures of Bianca. “I’ll try to find some other ones, sorry.”

“No, no,” Will said, dropping a handful of candy and bringing Nico’s phone closer to him. “I want the full parade experience, show me all of them.”

“Alright,” Nico gave in. “Honestly, though, I only took that last one because that kid kind of looked like you, with the whiskers and whatever.”

“Really,” Will said, turning to face Nico directly.

Nico glanced over (thankful that it was still a bit dark in the room - they were awfully close to each other). “Yeah, and, uh, speaking of? Your whiskers are kind of really smudged.” He reached up, almost completely unaware of his actions, and brushed his thumb against one of the smudges on Will’s cheekbone. 

He pulled his hand back like he’d been shocked. “Sorry,” he said, eyes widening. “I don’t really know why I did that.”

“It’s fine,” Will said, grinning at him, though his eyes seemed like he was focused on something else. “Do you have glitter on your cheek?”

Nico reached up to wipe at his cheek with his fingers. “Bianca convinced me that she needed more fairy dust before we went trick-or-treating earlier. Not only did she get it all over herself, but all over me, too.”

“You’ve got that right,” Will told him, reaching over and running his thumb across Nico’s cheek, tan skin coming back stained with sparkles.

Nico groaned. “I’m never going to get rid of all of that,” he complained. “You don’t mind if I show you these some other time, do you? I need to get home to try washing this stuff off before it soaks into my bloodstream.”

“Yeah, of course,” Will said, drawing himself back. “You go right ahead. I didn’t mean to keep you here so late anyway, so, uh, yeah. I’ll see you...tomorrow?”

Nico smiled at him. “Of course, whenever you need me.”

Less of a need, Will thought, and more of a want. A nearly constant want, at that.

Will smiled back. “Tomorrow it is, then.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way these aren't going to follow a separate plot from I'm in Hell and the chapters will be jumping around a lot except for this one which is also for somewhere around chapter 5

Will was woken up by a loud chirping coming from his nightstand.  _ This must be how Nico feels every time I call him, _  he thought as he reached for his phone. He lit up the screen, but it only revealed the time;  _ 3:15AM. _  Then the chirping came again, and he realized it was his pager from the hospital. He read the tiny screen:  _ 911 TRAUMA. _

He grabbed his phone again, dialing Nico’s number, and jumped out of bed. One of his feet got caught in the sheets and he fell onto the floor, face first, right as Nico answered.

“Hey, Solace, what’s up?” Nico’s very awake voice came through the phone, which had flown out of Will’s hand. He pulled himself across the floor to get a hand on it.

“Nico? Are you actually awake?” he asked, disbelieving. 

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re never awake when I call,” Will answered, and paused for a yawn. “This is the first time this has ever happened.”

“Are  _ you _ even awake?” Nico asked, and Will thought he could hear something clicking through the phone.

“What are you doing?” Will asked, ignoring the question posed at him.

“Solace, I find it hard to believe that you called me at three in the morning for a chat,” Nico said. “I’m writing a paper for class. Did you need me to come over?”

“Yes, I need you,” Will said, and realized how that could’ve sounded. “Uh, now. At my house. Over here.  _ For Bianca." _

“You really have a hard time formulating a coherent thought when you’re sleep-deprived, don’t you?” Nico asked.

“I-- What?”

And Nico laughed. He  _ laughed. _  Will had never heard something so beautiful, and he never wanted it to stop, but his pager chirped again.

“Ahh! I need you to get over here,” Will said again as he reached for the scrubs he’d worn the day before, which had been discarded on his floor. “It’s an emergency, I have to leave-- OW!” He tripped as he tried to balance the phone between his cheek and shoulder while pulling the scrubs on over his boxers. The phone flew away again. He could hear Nico laughing  _ harder. _

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, could you please just get over here? I really have to get to the hospital.”

Nico sounded like he was having a hard time breathing, he was laughing so hard. “Wh-What are you  _ doing?" _

“I’m trying to get dressed so I can leave!” Will called into the receiver, and hung up the phone. 

 

Nico arrived exactly fifteen minutes later, and stopped Will before he could run out the door. “Thought you’d strip down while on the phone with me, huh?” he asked, and Will’s face turned bright red before he pushed past him and ran out the door. He could hear Nico laughing again, and it was  _ so much better _ in person, he wished he didn’t have to leave.

He’d just have to make Nico laugh again, somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will most likely be another one of these tomorrow to fit in around chapter 13 i think but we'll see  
> thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> partner to chapter 13 of I'm in Hell

There was one patient that Will had really bonded with since moving to New York, and her name was Lou. She’d been in a pretty bad car accident a few days after Will had started his job, and Will had been one of the trauma doctors working on her. While it had been months since the accident, Lou had remained at the hospital for some time due to continuing surgeries and elongated observations, and it turned out that she really didn’t have anyone around to take care of her at home (and she also didn’t exactly have a car to return home in, now).

So Will and Lou became easy friends throughout the time that Will had had rounds and check ups, and now, while Lou waited between surgeries, Will would do his best to bring her lunch from the hospital cafeteria and eat with her during the week.

During these little “lunch dates,” Lou had told Will all the great places to go out and eat (not that he had the time), places to take Bianca (who Lou had heard  _ so much about), _  and which places to absolutely avoid at all costs (it was a surprisingly long list, and Will knew he would have a hard time remembering even one of the places).

In return, Will shared with her a little bit of his life in Nashville, whatever cute things Bianca had done since their last lunch, and (Lou’s favorite topic) Nico, and what he had been up to. As soon as Will had realized that Lou paid more attention to the Nico-centric parts of his stories, he made a mental note to try and avoid talking too much about him (only because Lou could probably see on Will’s face how much he  _ liked _ Nico).

So when Will brought her lunch one day, Lou could easily tell that he was pretty distracted. 

“What happened?” Lou asked, but Will silently took his seat in the chair next to her bed. “Spill, what’s going on, tell me everything, you’re distracted and I can tell and talking about it will make you feel better.”

Will huffed, obviously knowing that Lou was right, and poked his plastic fork into whatever pasta the cafeteria lady had given him. “It’s career day at Bianca’s school today and I didn’t get to go with her.”

“So, sad that you missed it, or jealous that Mr. Cute Babysitter gets to be her dad for the day?” Lou asked before taking a bite of her pasta.

“Sad,” Will answered, and took a second to think about it. “And a little confused, I think? I dunno, Nico’s just kind of acting a little weird around me.”

“What kind of weird?” Lou demanded. “Like happy, touchy, flirty weird, or like avoiding, grumpy, kinda grossed out at the sight of you weird?”

“I don’t know?” Will told her. “Last week, when I told Bi that I couldn’t go with her, Nico just jumped right in and she stopped crying like  _ that, _  and he was smiling a lot but I couldn’t tell if he was smiling at me or Bianca, and he might’ve even winked at me at one point, I’m not sure.”

“Okay, but this was a week ago,” Lou reminded him. “I don’t know why I’m  _ just now hearing about it, _  but what’s happened  _ today?" _

“Well, I told him to text me if there was an emergency, so I kinda freaked out when he texted me like right after they got to the school, but he just told me that he didn’t want to talk to any of the other adults there, so he texted me instead.”

“So he doesn’t want to talk to anyone but you?” Lou waggled her eyebrows at Will as she took another bite of food. Will threw his unused plastic spoon at her.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” Will insisted, but hesitated before speaking again. “But there might’ve been a little flirting? I don’t know, I think I’m still a little shook up from that whole Christmas party drunk fiasco, so it might be flirting and I’m just trying to tell myself that it’s not.”

“Let me see the texts.”

Will put his food to the side before reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone (only on him because it was his lunch break; at all other times it was off and in his locker), but as soon as it was in his hand, it buzzed.

“He texted me again,” Will said, opening the message and reading it silently to himself. “So, there’s this one dad there that Nico said looked like an escaped convict and that he’d keep me updated on what that guy’s career actually is, and it turns out he’s a construction worker.”

“Answer him, and try flirting a little bit,” Lou encouraged. “See what he does!”

Will typed out a message, only to get one back almost immediately. “Ah! I think we’re flirting! Lou, how do I handle this? What am I doing?”

“Keep going!”

And so Lou watched for the next ten minutes or so as Will’s face grew increasingly redder, his hands started to shake a little bit, and a small smile popped up on his face every couple of minutes. He had read the texts out loud to her as they were sent and received.

Will finally put his phone down after the last text was sent, eyes wide with a little bit of fear and he stared Lou down.

“What have I done?” Will asked her, throwing his hands over his face. “What if he gets creeped out and quits?”

“Will, that was the most vanilla flirting I’ve ever heard, you’re fine,” Lou assured him, “and it sounded to me like he was flirting back!”

“But what if he  _ wasn’t?" _  Will started again. “What if he never wants to see me again? He’s gonna tell me when I get home today that this whole thing isn’t working out and he’s gonna quit and Bianca’s gonna blame  _ me _ because it’s  _ my fault _ and we’re never gonna see Nico again. Lou,  _ how could you let me do this?" _

“You know, I, like, lowkey suspected that  _ maybe _ you were crushing on this kid,” Lou began, “but now I highkey  _ totally know _ that you’re, like, in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Lou, you’re not helping!” Will complained. “I’m not allowed to be in love with him! Legally, I’m his boss, right? Or something like that! His  _ employer. _  I can’t date my employee! He’s probably going to sue me for sexual harassment in the workplace for flirting with him over text!”

“I don’t think babysitter your daughter in your own home counts as a workplace, but whatever, not the main issue here. For the last time, Will, he was flirting back. And from what I’ve heard, I think he likes you, too. You need to calm yourself down, finish your work, go home, and do something to woo your boy. How old is he, anyway? Old enough to get drunk, maybe?” She waggled her eyebrows at him again.

“Lou, I’m  _ never drinking again, _ remember? And he’s twenty-two. I’m  _ six years _ older than him, Lou, that’s  _ such  _ a big age difference! Six years is a long time, I know, because I  _ have _ a six year old. Why would he want to date someone  _ so much older _ than him?”

“You’re not even thirty!” Lou shouted at him. “Go plan something nice for him! Go woo your  _ man _ who is  _ not _ that much younger than you, and come back when you have actual juicy details to share, got it?”

Will scrubbed his hands over his face roughly, took a few deep breaths, and stood up. “Okay. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” He picked up his half-eaten pasta as well as Lou’s empty bowl, and headed toward the hallway. He stopped halfway out the door. “Lou, I don’t even know if he’s gay.”

“Go!”

And Will ran out of the room.


	4. Valentine's Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> According to my posting schedule this should've gone up yesterday too?? Sorry I'm awful

Bianca ran into the kitchen, pages of red and pink construction paper clutched in one hand as she ran up to her dad. 

“Daddy!” she cried. “It’s Valentine’s Day and I don’t have a Valentine!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Bi,” Will said. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t have a Valentine, either.”

Bianca huffed. “It doesn’t.”

Nico snickered from where he was standing at the stove. He scooped a pancake out of the pan and put it on a plate, setting in on the table where Bianca normally sat. She jumped up onto the chair and looked at the plate.

“It’s a heart!” she exclaimed.

“It’s a pancake,” Nico corrected, pouring more batter into the pan.

Bianca rolled her eyes. “But it’s shaped like a heart. Daddy, look!”

“That’s super cool,” Will noted. “Do I get heart-shaped pancakes?” He looked over toward Nico, and even though he couldn’t see his face, Will could tell he was rolling his eyes.

“Nico?” Bianca asked right after she stuffed a bite of pancake into her mouth. 

“Yes, Princess?” he said, scooping out another pancake and taking the plate over to Will.

“Will you be my Valentine?”

Nico crouched down next to her chair, leaning on the table for balance. “I would  _ love _ to be your Valentine, Princess, but I think you might make Daddy jealous.” He shot a quick look over to Will, whose cheeks were pink as he choked on his coffee.

Nico returned to the stove, pouring the last of the batter into the pan, just enough for himself.

“I guess you’re right,” Bianca said, stuffing another bite into her mouth. “You should be Daddy’s Valentine, Nico.”

Nico’s hand slipped as he poured the last of the batter, and his hand hit the hot metal of the pan.

Will didn’t even get a chance to notice that  _ his  _ pancake was chocolate chip before he was jumping up to assess the damage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its so short but thanks for reading!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 20 of I'm in Hell but a little bit different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter 20 was my favorite chapter so far so obviously i had to do it from nico's pov too

Nico could feel a smear of chocolate on his lip, but  _ refused _ to do anything about it. Yeah, it was killing him a little inside, but apparently the chocolate cake in itself wasn’t enough for Will to make a move. All he needed was a little tempting.

Will had walked up next to Nico at the sink, holding his bowl in one hand reaching to pry another dish out of Nico’s with the other. “I can do the dishes,” Will insisted, but Nico took Will’s bowl from him. “You cooked,  _ and _ baked, you’re not doing the dishes, too.”

“You’re not doing the dishes on your birthday,” Nico told him, running one of the bowl under the stream of water. He could still feel the chocolate on his lip.  _ Don’t do it, _ Nico told himself. _ Don’t lick the chocolate. Leave that for Will. _

“My birthday’s not for three days,” Will reminded him, but Nico kept washing. 

He glanced at Will out of the corner of his eye. He hadn’t budged. Nico rolled his eyes and reached across Will, arm intentionally brushing against Will’s abdomen as he grabbed a towel. “I’ll wash, you dry,” Nico offered.

Will pouted, but finally agreed.

“Thank you, again, for the cake,” Will said when Nico handed him a freshly cleaned bowl. “It was delicious, but you really didn’t have to go through all that trouble for me.”

Nico shrugged. “It wasn’t any trouble. I bake all the time, it was nothing.” As he spoke, Nico thought back to the three nearly identical cakes sitting in his fridge at home.

The dishes were finished in no time, and while Will finished drying the last spoon, Nico turned to face him fully. Will turned his head toward him, nearly dropping the spoon when his eyes flickered down to Nico’s lips.

Carefully, Will set the spoon on the counter, and Nico tried not to smirk as he pulled the towel out of Will’s hands to dry his own. 

“What?” Nico asked after Will hadn’t moved for a full minute, at least. 

“You’ve got chocolate, uh--” Will tapped at his own lip, mouth hanging open slightly. Nico finally allowed his tongue to dart out over his lips, careful to avoid the smear of chocolate. He kept his eyes on Will’s, watching as his cheeks grew pink and his blue eyes grew wide. 

“Good?” Nico asked, trying to sound as casual as possible, and couldn’t help but notice that Will’s eyes were still glued to his lips. Keeping a smile off his lips was nearly  _ impossible _ at this point.

“Um.” Will’s eyes shot back up to Nico’s eyes, though he was still standing perfectly still. Nico pushed himself forward a half step, leaning barely closer, and giving Will the last push to finally,  _ finally, _  swoop down to let his lips press against Nico’s. Nico let his mouth fall open, just barely, as he felt Will’s tongue sweep across his lip and collect the chocolate there. 

Nico’s eyes had just slipped shut when Will tore himself away, jumping back so far that the small of his back hit the counter and the back of his head smashed against a cabinet door.

“Shit,” Will hissed, reaching up to rub at the back of his head as his other hand gripped the edge of the counter. “Sorry, I’m so sorry, I don’t know why I did that,  _ ow." _

Nico couldn’t help himself, he started laughing, practically  _ giggling. _  He couldn’t believe it, that all it took for Will to  _ finally _ kiss him was a little bit of chocolate. He’d  _ actually _ courted Will with a chocolate cake! Hazel could never find out about this.

Nico kept his eyes on Will’s as he stepped barely closer. Will had a look almost like fear in his eyes as Nico stepped even closer. “Will,” Nico breathed, his laughter subsiding. Will’s eyes became impossibly wider, both hands gripping the counter so tight that his knuckles turned white. Nico stepped forward, planting his feet between Will’s and resting his hands on Will’s shoulders. He slid his fingers up Will’s neck, grazing against his cheeks and allowing his fingers to brush just under his eyes as he tilted Will’s head downward, just slightly.

“Will,” Nico said again, and Will’s breath hitched, “did you maybe do it because you  _ wanted to?" _

Will wasn’t breathing - Nico could feel as much - so he nodded instead of trying to use his voice. Nico grinned; he couldn’t remember ever smiling as bright as he did then, but he was sure it didn’t matter. 

He got up on his tiptoes, bringing himself closer to Will and again tugging him down, until the two were nose to nose. “Me too,” Nico breathed against Will’s lips before pressing them together. He parted his lips, swiping his tongue into Will’s mouth, hoping to get a taste of the chocolate Will had just taken from him.

He felt Will’s body relax against him, and a pair of arms wound around Nico’s waist, pulling him impossibly closer. Nico sighed into the kiss as Will’s hands travelled up Nico’s back, down his arms and resting over Nico’s hands on his cheeks. 

Will tilted his head, resting his forehead against Nico’s and effectively cutting off any further kisses. 

Nico let his eyes flutter open and heard Will’s breath hitch as he did.

“Stay?” Will asked, squeezing Nico’s fingers. 

“Tonight?” Nico asked, panting, his mouth working faster than his brain. His eyes met Will’s as he said, “Or forever?”

Will laughed, eyes falling shut. “Whichever.”

Nico paused, giving himself a second to appreciate the beautiful smile on the man in front of him. Will opened his eyes, spurring Nico to speak. “Not tonight,” Nico told him, dropping his gaze before letting it flicker back up as he smirked. “It’s not your birthday yet.” His smirk grew at the sight of Will growing pink once more. “But soon. I just-- Not tonight.”

“Okay,” Will breathed, pressing another kiss to Nico’s lips. “Okay.”

Nico hummed in contentment as Will’s hands fell back to his waist, keeping him close.

“Does that mean you’ve got something else planned for me for my actual birthday?” Will asked, absentmindedly rubbing circles into Nico’s hip bones with his thumbs. 

Nico bit at Will’s lip. “You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?”

Will knocked his forehead against Nico’s gently.  _ "God, _  you’re lucky you’re cute.”

“And why’s that?” Nico asked, hoping he wasn’t blushing as much as he felt like he was.

“‘Cause if you weren’t, I might have to break up with you for an answer like that.”

This time, Nico knew there was no hiding the blush. “Does that mean there’s something to break up?” he asked quietly.

Will seemed startled for a second, but covered it up quickly with a soft smile. “I hope so.”

“Good,” Nico whispered with a smile of his own. “I hope so, too.”

 

Nico had come home with a dopey smile on his face, and while Hazel had an idea of what that meant, she still had to ask.

“What’s got you all smiley?” she asked, but he just shook his head and went to his room. Hazel wasn’t expecting him to come back to the living room, but he’d apparently just gone to put his backpack away, and had returned shortly. “No, really,” Hazel tried again. “I wasn’t expecting you to come home tonight, and the smile’s just kind of weirding me out now. What’s up? Is the courting going well?”

That didn’t even knock the smile down a peg, and now Hazel was  _ creeped out. _  “I’m not  _ courting _ him,” Nico said again, but it didn’t have the same effect as last time. 

“You’re creeping me out, just tell me,” Hazel demanded.

“He kissed me,” Nico told her. “And then he apologized a couple of times, and then kissed me a bunch more times.”

“So your courting finally paid off, then,” Hazel said, and Nico nodded.

“Yeah, I guess it did.” And then he froze, smile falling and blush blooming. “I mean--”

“Nico, c’mon,” Hazel said. “I knew the first time I talked to him that he loved you. It only confirmed it when he came over here with Bianca. Did you not  _ see _ the way he was looking at you?” She sighed. “No, of course not, because you thought he hated you then. Right, okay. So he loves you and he kissed you,  _ a lot, _  apparently. So why are you here?”

Nico frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t you stay over?”

“I-- I didn’t--” He stuttered a few more times, until Hazel gave him a  _ look, _  and he sighed. “I didn’t want you to think the cake got me laid.”

“But would it have?”

“Hazel!”

_ "Would it have?" _

Nico glared at her. “Maybe.”

“Oh my god,” Hazel said, only a few notches down from a squeal. “He asked you to stay over? What did you say?” 

“I-- I asked if he meant tonight or-- Or forever.”

Nico couldn’t believe it, but Hazel actually laughed at him.

“Are you serious? Oh my god, what did he  _ say _ ?”

“Whichever.”

“You get your butt back over there right this second, Nico di Angelo,” Hazel commanded, pointing toward the door. “You’re moving in with him right now.”

“Hazel!”

“This is amazing,” she said, pulling out her phone. “I’m calling Frank right now.” 

“No! He won’t care, come on.”

“Fine then, I’m calling Jason.”

“No! Hazel, don’t you dare!”

“I’m doing it, I’m already dialing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just a bunch of little stories all mashed together into one that like bounce around a little bit, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Nico would admit to  _ no one _ that he enjoyed the occasional cuddle. Enjoyed meaning  _ couldn’t live without, _  and occasional meaning  _ whenever it could happen. _

But, of course,  _ no one _ had even included Will for a little while. Emphasis on  _ little. _  He lasted about a day. Literally,  _ one day _ after his and Will’s first kiss, Nico had practically thrown himself into Will’s lap, tucked himself as close to Will’s body as possible, and took one of his hands in his own.

Will had started to question this, until Nico started to run his fingers across the back of Will’s hand, along his fingers, and little ways down his wrist, and back.

With Will’s other hand, he tucked a finger into one of Nico’s belt loops, and turned his attention back to the show he and Bianca had been watching.

* * *

 

Will was dead on his feet whenever he got home in the middle of the night after a shift. One night particularly, he thought he was delirious, arriving home to see another person already lying in his bed, having forgotten that he had a  _ boyfriend. _  He was so tired, the entire  _ concept _ of being in a relationship was completely gone, and it wasn’t until he’d crawled into bed with this person - was that Nico? What was Nico doing in his bed? - and wrapped an arm around their bare abdomen that Will thought,  _ this seems familiar. _

Pulling him closer, however, seemed to wake Nico up. He’d rolled over in Will’s arms, hands finding Will’s jaw, and angling his head down for a kiss. “G’night, Sunshine,” Will heard Nico mumble.

“Goodnight, Ghost King,” he said back, and he felt Nico smile against the skin of his neck. 

“I love you,” Nico said. 

Will fell asleep with a smile on his face and a beautiful man in his arms.

 

Will didn’t know how he’d woken up before Nico, but there he was, hand resting on Nico’s bare stomach, rising and falling evenly with Nico’s breathing, watching his boyfriend’s peaceful face as he slept. 

_ I love you, _  the words rang through Will’s head, but it wasn’t his voice. That wasn’t him saying those words to Nico when he knew Nico wouldn’t hear them. That was  _ Nico’s _ voice, saying those words to  _ him. _

Will propped himself up on an elbow, carefully moving his hand from Nico’s stomach to his cheek, gently stroking his thumb under the other’s eye. “You love me,” he said softly, but apparently still loud enough to wake Nico.

“Will?” he mumbled.

“You  _ love me _ ,” Will said again, lips breaking into a wide smile, and Nico’s cheeks pinked.

“I guess so,” Nico whispered, closing his eyes again and rolling onto his side, still facing Will.

Will leaned down, gently nudging at Nico’s chin with his fingers until Nico met him for a kiss. “You said it,” Will told him. “You told me you love me.”

“I love you,” Nico said again, and he was anticipating the passionate kiss that came next. 

“You love me,” Will repeated, pressing kisses all over Nico’s face, along his jaw, down his neck, and back. He kissed the bridge of his nose, right between his eyes, and Nico finally looked up at him. “I love  _ you." _  And Nico smiled.

He could kiss Nico for the rest of his  _ life. _  He  _ loved _ him.

* * *

 

Will had gotten home from a shift around three o’clock one afternoon, had stayed awake long enough to pick Bianca up from school, and managed to hold back almost all of his yawns during dinner, until Nico had forced him to sleep for the night.

Nico had literally pushed him across the house (which Bianca thought was hilarious) and forced him into bed. Will grabbed his hands, pulling Nico down with him, whining, “If I have to, so do you,” to which Nico replied, “You’re a  _ child." _

Nico had Will’s hands pinned down on the bed, and was kneeling over him when Will said, “Don’t you wanna cuddle with me?” and Nico  _ knew _ he was holding back a smirk. Nico huffed and pouted down at him.

“Alright, as soon as I get Bianca to go to bed, I’ll come back,” Nico told him. “ _ Don’t _ wait up.”

Will grinned and reached his head up to brush a kiss against Nico’s lips. “I know you can’t resist me.”

Nico rolled his eyes and climbed off the bed.

 

Will was mostly asleep and could not be held accountable for what he said when Nico came into their room that night. He could hear the door opening and closing, rustling like maybe Nico was changing his clothes and a clatter like Nico's glasses being set on the nightstand, and then the bed dipped, a weight resting all along Will’s side.

He felt the cold tip of Nico’s nose pressing against his collarbone, a hand lightly gripping the front of his t-shirt, a leg thrown over one of his own, and cold toes touching the inside of Will’s calf. Will brought one of his arms around Nico, letting the other know he was still awake, and Nico groaned softly into Will’s shoulder.

“I killed Mary,” Nico muttered, and Will was suddenly very awake. “It was the only way to move the plot forward. She was my favorite but now she’s dead.” Nico sighed, and Will could feel Nico’s eyelashes moving against his neck.

It took Will a second to answer. “You’re talking about your book, right?”

Nico propped himself up, hand still planted on the center of Will’s chest, and looked down at him in the dark. To Will, he sounded completely serious when he said, “No, Bianca’s friend from school, I killed her and buried her in the backyard.”

Will paused again before speaking. “To be completely honest, I’m really tired and I can’t tell whether or not you’re serious about that.”

Nico dropped back on top of Will, chin digging into his chest, and Will had to admit that that  _ hurt. _  “I hate you,” Nico mumbled into Will’s t-shirt.

“That one I know is a lie,” Will said confidently.

“No it’s not.” Nico shifted around until he was comfortable, and Will felt his entire body relax.

“I love you,” Will told him, and Nico hummed back at him. “You love me,” he continued, and this time Nico’s hum was a little more of a grumble.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In relation to I'm in Hell, this is post-chapter 29 but otherwise doesn't really have any specific place other than "post-engagement, pre-wedding" (not that the wedding's even happened yet but you get it)

Will sometimes forgot about the ring on his finger until it glinted in the light, or one of his patients pointed it out to him. Then, he would smile and he would talk and  _ talk _ about his fiance, and nothing could get him to stop. A lot of his patients would comment about what a strange engagement ring it was - silver, not gold; a skull instead of a diamond - though Will never thought much of it. 

One day, one of Will’s patients - the sweetest old lady on the planet - struck up a conversation with him about his engagement. When he told her the story of the impromptu proposal at breakfast, she seemed almost offended. 

“You proposed without a ring?” she asked. “Of course he didn’t accept! You have to get that boy a ring! Else, somebody might snatch him right out of your hands.”

Will laughed. “I don’t think anybody’s gonna be snatching him away from me. I wouldn’t let them.”

“That’s not the point, sweetie, it’s bad luck if he doesn’t have a ring!”

That seemed to surprise Will. “Is it, really?”

“Well, it’s unlucky for a lady to go without a ring, but I’m not sure how that would work with your situation. But wouldn’t you rather be safe, than sorry?”

“Of course,” Will told her. “You’re right. I’ll get him a ring on my way home tonight. Now, let’s get you ready for your surgery, okay?”

 

At the time, Will had said those things to appease a traditional old woman. But, as he drove home that night, he couldn’t get the thought out of his head. Nico deserved a ring, especially after he’d given up his for Will. 

Will turned his car around, heading back into the city. He called Nico, telling him he’d be home a little later than he’d said, and then had his phone look up the closest jeweler.

 

Nico woke up to the feeling of lips on his neck, his shoulder, teeth biting gently into his ear. Nico hummed, tilting his head and offering a better angle for kissing. “Good morning,” Nico whispered, feeling Will’s hand travel up his chest.

“I have something I want to give you,” Will told him softly before pulling away completely.

Nico’s eyes cracked open, squinting at the clock on the nightstand, and groaned. “Will,” he started, rolling onto his back. “I don’t want to have sex at six-thirty in the morning.”

Will laughed, pressing a kiss to Nico’s cheek and setting something on his stomach. “Good thing that’s not what I meant.”

Nico eyed the tiny box on his stomach as Will rolled out of bed. “Will, what is this?”

“It’s a box that you have to open to see what’s inside,” Will answered. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

Will was out of the room before Nico sat up to turn on the bedside lamp, holding the box carefully in his hands. He flipped open the lid, eyes landing on a gold band with a simple golden sun attached. It was incredibly similar to the silver ring Will now wore on his finger.

Nico flung himself out of bed, racing across the hall to the bathroom and bursting inside. The water was already running, and Nico could hear Will humming an unfamiliar tune behind the shower curtain.

“Will,” Nico called, over the sound of the water, moving further into the bathroom to pull back the curtain.

“Yes?” Will asked innocently, hair already full of suds.

Nico held up his hand, showing off the golden ring. “Is this supposed to make up for your shitty proposal?”

Will shrugged. “I thought it was pretty decent, but if that’s what you think--”

Nico reached up, tangling his fingers in Will’s soapy hair and tugging him down for a kiss. “Consent is important, remember,” Nico told him when he pulled back. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

Will pouted. “I didn’t even get to ask that time.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Do you want me to marry you or not, Sunshine?”

“Of course I do,” Will told him with a blinding smile, darting forward for another kiss. “Can I finish my shower now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow who wouldve thought i'd ever update this again amirite

Nico was happy. He couldn’t remember ever being so happy, not for the last ten years, at least. He had a husband, a _beautiful,_ smart husband, and a _daughter._ He’d never imagined having kids of his own, but he wouldn’t trade Bianca for the world.

But there was a problem with being so happy. It didn’t always last.

It had been about a week since Will and Nico returned from their honeymoon, stepping off the plane to be greeted by freezing weather and a foot of snow outside their house. Nico didn’t have time to consider the rapidly changing dates, how close they were getting to the end of December.

How close they were to the nineteenth.

He didn’t think much of it until glancing at the date one night before heading to bed, a white _14_ staring up at him, and his heart stopped - his _world_ stopped - for a second, before he took a breath and calmed himself down. He didn’t have to let this bother him. He could move past this.

And then the nightmares started up again, for the first time since the hospital.

It was the same one as always: Nico being forced to relive the night that Bianca died, _over and over_ again, until he woke up screaming or gasping for breath or with Will leaning over him, concern written all over his face. He thought he could move past it, told himself that he would, but then again, he’d told himself that he should’ve been able to save Bianca, too.

 

* * *

 

Nico was, essentially, useless. For a few days, he barely slept, barely ate, barely spoke. He couldn’t even convince himself to move, which meant that he didn’t cook, didn’t clean, didn’t even shower. It was the same as it had always been in the past, except now he felt guilt seeping into the numbness. He had a _husband_ now, he had a _daughter._ He should be taking care of them, but instead, he laid in bed, barely moving, barely existing.

He felt like a waste of space, always in the way whenever he could force himself out of bed, useless because he couldn’t do anything for Bianca. He felt like he’d somehow tricked Will into marrying him, like he’d advertised himself as some kind of mentally stable house-husband, but now that the honeymoon was over, Will got to see what he really signed up for: a depressed piece of garbage.

No matter how far Nico dragged himself down, though, Will and Bianca continuously carried him back up. Each afternoon when Bianca returned home from school, she would find Nico - whether he’d made it out to the couch that morning or had instead stayed in bed - and read to him as best she could from a few books she’d gotten from school. She would snuggle close to him and sometimes stay there until Will told her it was time for bed. Then, she would kiss his cheek, say goodnight, and be off.

Will - _god,_ Nico was so lucky to have Will - practically smothered Nico with affection whenever he could. Nico wasn’t sure whether he loved or hated it, but until he decided, he figured he’d let Will be. He spoke gently around Nico, and any other time he would’ve found it condescending, but Nico found it calming. Will would hold him close at night, his even breathing probably being the only thing able to distract Nico enough to sleep for an hour or two each night, and constantly reminded Nico that he loved him.

One morning, when Nico was able to drag himself out of bed before Will left to take Bianca to school, he dropped himself down on the couch and listened to the sounds of Will and Bianca getting ready for their day. There was the hum of Will’s stupid electric toothbrush, the dripping of the coffee pot and the sound of the toaster popping in the kitchen, Bianca singing quietly to herself as she packed up her backpack.

Will came out of the bathroom, already dressed for work in his light blue scrubs that almost matched his eyes. He seemed surprised to see Nico sitting on the couch, though it was clearly a good surprise.

“Good morning, darling,” Will told him, kneeling down in front of Nico and resting his hands on Nico’s thighs. “How’re you feeling?”

Nico shrugged - his usual response.

“I’m glad to see you out of bed this early,” Will continued, smiling brightly at his husband. In the kitchen, the dripping sound stopped, and Will rose abruptly. “I’ll be right back.” He leaned in to press a kiss to Nico’s forehead before stepping away.

Bianca exited her room shortly after, dropping her bag in the middle of the hall when she saw Nico. “Good morning, Nico!” she called, rushing over. She jumped up onto the couch, wrapping her arms around Nico’s waist and pressing her face into his chest and she hugged him. “In music class today we’re gonna have a _dress rehearsal_ of our Christmas concert,” Bianca told him, carefully sounding out the words _dress rehearsal_. “You’re gonna come to the concert, right?”

Nico nodded weakly and tried for a smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace.

Bianca cheered, but was cut short when Will called from the kitchen: “Bi, five minutes!” She hugged Nico one last time before sliding off the couch to collect her backpack from the hall.

“Bye, Nico,” she called out. “I love you!”

In about two minutes, the house was silent, both Will and Bianca having walked out the door, Will without even shouting a goodbye to Nico.

He felt a stab of rejection in his stomach, acceptance of the feeling just starting to sink in when the front door opened again, Will’s voice calling out, “I almost forgot the most important thing!” He rushed over to Nico, probably tracking snow through the whole house as he did. He slowed down just long enough to press a gentle kiss to Nico’s lips, saying, “I love you, call me if you need anything,” before he was running back out the door.

For the first time in days, Nico felt himself beginning to smile.

 

When Will returned home from work, having picked Bianca up from school on his way home, he noticed that something was different. He couldn’t be sure what, but the mood of the house seemed lighter.

He came around the corner in the kitchen, spotting the top of Nico’s head over the back of the couch, the TV in front of him on with the volume turned down low.

Will walked into the room, smiling at the sight of his husband, freshly showered and in a clean set of pajamas, and took a seat next to him on the couch. Almost immediately, Nico sunk into his side.

“How are you feeling?” Will asked softly, fingers combing through Nico’s hair. “Any better?” Nico nodded. “That’s good. I see you took a shower while I was gone. That’s good, too. I’m glad you’re starting to take care of yourself again. You deserve to be taken care of.”

Nico frowned, but Will knew well enough by now that it wasn’t a sad frown, but a sign that Nico was starting to get embarrassed.

“I’m proud of you,” Will told him, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

Nico turned his face into Will’s chest. “Stop it,” he whispered, voice hoarse from disuse.

Will wrapped his arms around him. “Now, why would I stop when I’m so proud of my husband, my favorite man in the whole world, who deserves so much more than all the love I can give him--”

“You’re enough,” Nico told him, fingers gripping at the front of Will’s shirt. “You’re more than enough for me.”

Will beamed, holding his husband tighter. “And you’re more than I could ever have hoped to have.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe,,, someday,,,, i'll write a honeymoon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 
> 
> probably not
> 
> thanks for reading!!!!!

**Author's Note:**

> This will be updated much less frequently than the actual story, but these are gonna be great I promise


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